Sócrates

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Sócrates, (Sócrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira), Brazilian association football (soccer) player and physician (born Feb. 19, 1954, Belém, Braz.—died Dec. 4, 2011, São Paulo, Braz.), epitomized Brazil’s quick, smooth, freewheeling style of play in the jogo bonito (“beautiful game”) during the 1970s and ’80s, scoring 22 goals in 60 international matches over nine years (1979–86). Although Brazil lost in the second round of the 1982 FIFA World Cup and in the quarterfinals at the 1986 tournament, Sócrates’s exuberance, clever strategy, and signature “golden heel” back-heel pass on the field made him a star. The tall (1.93 m [6 ft 4 in]), bearded Sócrates also attracted attention for his flamboyant life off the field and for his political activism on behalf of the poor and against Brazil’s authoritarian government. He played (1974–78) for Botafogo football club in Ribeirão Prêto while he obtained his medical degree. He then moved up to the São Paulo professional club Corinthians (1978–84), for which he was a formidable midfielder, scoring 172 goals in 297 games. After a brief spell with Fiorentina in Florence, Sócrates returned home to join Flamengo in Rio de Janeiro and then Santos in São Paulo before retiring in 1989. Thereafter he practiced medicine and became a noted political and sports commentator.